TV white spaces in Africa: Trials and role in improving broadband access in Africa

Abstract

TV white spaces (TVWS), together with dynamic spectrum access (DSA), offers a great promise in bridging the digital divide gap in Africa and making broadband connectivity affordable and ubiquitous. TVWS offers a great promise because there is plenty of unused spectrum in Africa and, due to the good propagation characteristics of sub-1GHz spectrum band, TVWS is a great rural technology. Some of the application areas of TVWS and DSA are delivery of government services, education and telemedicine. Trials have been conducted across Africa to demonstrate that TVWS technology can be used to deliver low cost broadband services, to increase awareness of the potential of TVWS technology and to provide information about costs involved in the technology. TVWS trials in Kenya and South Africa have demonstrated that the performance of a TVWS network compares to that of a Wimax network. In order for TVWS networks to be operational, TVWS and DSA regulations are required. The success of the use of TVWS in Africa depends on the national authorities across the continent in enacting the necessary regulations so as to enable the use of this technology.